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Effective December 14, 2014, Trenitalia will offer two daily DIRECT Frecciargento trains from ROME FIUMICINO AIRPORT to Venezia S. Lucia, which avoid a connection at Roma Termini. These two trains will STOP for 10 minutes at Termini station, but proceed on to Florence SMN, Bologna, Padua, Mestre and Venice. THERE IS NO CHANGE OF TRAINS if you travel on one of these two DIRECT trains.

The trains will depart from the Fiumicino Airport train station at 11:08 and 15:08, and arrive in Venice 4 hours and 27 minutes later. On the Trenitalia website, enter "Fiumicino Aeroporto" and "Venezia S. Lucia". The nondiscounted "BASE" fare will be 88 Euros in second class. Discounted advance purchase promotional fares as low as 29 Euros (e.g. "SUPER ECONOMY") will be offered, but are very RISKY if a flight delay causes the booked passenger to MISS the scheduled train: a complete FORFEITURE of the train ticket. For that reason, many passengers will elect to purchase a full-fare ticket at the airport train station upon arrival, rather than risking a forfeiture of a discounted ticket purchased online in advance.

It continues to be possible to travel to Venice VIA Roma Termini station OR Roma Tiburtina station, i.e. with a CONNECTION-change of trains. Trenitalia continues to offer HOURLY (or better) Frecciargento trains to Venice from Roma Termini. The nondiscounted "BASE" fare is 80 Euros. Travel time from Termini station is 3 hours, 45 minutes. All these trains have reserved seating.

Rival Italo Treno continues to offer a five daily trains from Roma Tiburtina Station to Venice. The lowest fare is also 29 Euros (but you must add 8 Euros to reach Tiburtina from FCO airport).

For that reason, many passengers will elect to purchase a full-fare ticket at the airport train station upon arrival, rather than risking a forfeiture of a discounted ticket purchased online in advance.>

But OTOH 29 euros is not that much of a sum to bet on if you are satisfied with building in ample time for planes being a little late - long lines at Customs, etc. - then if early just head for a caffe in the station and relax - and if you miss the train you are only out 29 euros all told but if OK could save a bundle.

but it also stops at Florence, Bologna, etc - it seems to me to be quite a big advantage to be able to get the train straight there instead of having to fiddle around at Termini, so long as the times work out with flight arrivals.

That's very true: 29 Euros versus 88 Euros is quite a savings if things pan out (although paying a total of 117 Euros versus 88 Euros is a bit of a financial "hit", if things go sideways).

GAC - don't see your logic here. The correct interpretation is weighing a saving of 59 against a supplement of 29.

Also this news unfortunately emphasizes yet again the Rome centric Trenitalia/Alitalia lobby.

Why aren't there Malpensa direct trains to Venice and elsewhere?

It is clear that Malpensa does not fit into current Alitalia/Etihad plans. Unfortunately the declassification of Malpensa over the years and the idea that businessmen from the north of Italy would fly to Rome to make their intercontinental connections never worked out. Many now fly to Zurich, Munich, Frankfurt or elsewhere and Alitalia and Rome has lost this business for ever.

We're saying the same thing, but from a different perspective. The possibility of forfeiting the discounted ticket results in a total fare of 117 Euros, instead of just 88 Euros for a "BASE" rate fare purchased at the last moment. While it's counterintuitive, for some people, it's harder to potentially forfeit 29 Euros than it is to potentially save 59 Euros.

Trenitalia has finally gotten around to updating its website (Italian only) to advertise the new direct Frecciargento trains between FCO Airport and Firenze SMN/Bologna Centrale/Padova/Venezia Mestre/Venezia S. Lucia:

Between Venice and Padova, forget about the reserved trains (16 Euros standard "BASE" fare), just take one of the UNRESERVED regionale or regionale veloce trains (4.05 Euros). Purchase the ticket minutes before the trip, at the train station electronic ticket machine, then stamp it in the validation machine before boarding. The paper ticket for the unreserved train is valid for 6 hours after validation, so you have several departure time alternatives, and are not locked into any particular departure time. The trip takes about 45 minutes.